Today's New York Times has an article about H.R. Pufnstuf that's pretty cool.
The Evil Geniuses of Kiddie Schlock
Have you ever thought you liked a terrible song just because you remembered it, mistaking mere recollection for actual nostalgia? That's the way it is for me and "H. R. Pufnstuf." I thought I had fond memories of the show until I had a chance to see it again, to hear the shrieks of an angry Witchie-Poo (the actress Billie Hayes in a ketchup-red wig), to be assaulted by swirling Day-Glo colors and a Freudian plot featuring a talking flute. Turns out that when I was 7, I had really, really bad taste.
Then again, maybe that's the glory of being 7 years old: there are no clichés, and the crassest riddles rock your world. The brighter the colors, the better the set design. This was the evil genius of Sid and Marty Krofft — the Canadian-born 70's TV hucksters whose invariably short-lived Saturday morning series included "H. R. Pufnstuf," "The Bugaloos," "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl," "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters," "Land of the Lost" and the deeply strange "Lidsville." They weren't making shows that parents could watch with their kids. They were making shows that kids could watch alone, while severely addled by Cap'n Crunch. In another league entirely from the witty Muppetry of "Sesame Street" or the gentle pleasures of Mr. Rogers and "The Magic Garden," the Kroffts dished up a swirl of psychedelia, vaudeville and cheesy production values that might be described as brown acid for the toddler soul. [New York Times]
While talking about these shows online someone pointed to the list of writers for Land of the Lost. It's pretty impressive. Though it might help explain why I can still remember that one.
